Door Concept Question

[Purple Grin]

I've had my oven up and running for about five months, and have yet to build any kind of door. I usually block the door with fire bricks to achieve or maintain temperature, twisting them out of the way when loading/unloading pies. And I set these bricks at the very front of the door, allowing easy ventilation out the chimney.

Now I'm looking into bread making, in which I'll be taking out the hot coals, and sealing up the oven after I'm done cooking pizzas.

My question....where is the door supposed to go? Between the dome and the chimney (interior), or at the very front (exterior)? If interior, do you guys build in a little slider to allow combustion air in? Do you pull it out once you're in cooking mode, or is it constantly replaced between pies? I have read and re-read the pdf document, and just can't get this figured out.

If this is an interior door, I'll probably build an aesthetic door for the very front when the oven is not in use. Does this make sense? I wish more of the pictures showed the door functionality. Anyone have some to offer?

Scott

[Les]

Re: Door Concept Question

Interior - you don't really need a vent for baking because the fire is out and the ashes (usually) are removed.

[cvdukes]

Re: Door Concept Question

How about both?

I have a "plug" door made of vermiculite concrete formed to fit inside the throat interior. Its about 3" thick and has a cement backer board flange that seals to the outside surface of the throat. Because the vermiculite concrete is rather soft, I coated it with surface bonding fibeglass-reinforced concrete to give it some durability. The plug door is put in when baking bread or using the oven as a roaster. Because I want to retain heat, I glued a fiberglass rope on the inside of the backer board to fit up against the throat ...(got that idea from a couple of folks on here... the rope is used to seal fireplace inserts into place...I finally found some at my local seed and feed).

I don't have a problem of trying to retain heat when firing up the oven, but I do have another door that fits into the exterior vent area (so the chimney draw is inside the door.) It has a wide slot across the bottom to allow combustion air in. I primarily use it if I have to leave the oven for a while when I'm first firing it up. My oven faces woods and our fire service is iffy at best, so just dont want to take the chance. Depending on how I build my fire, I've had flames shooting out the front (until the chimney gets really hot and starts to pull) and sometimes sparks (depending on the type of wood/ dryness etc), so its more of a safety precaution.

[Purple Grin]

Re: Door Concept Question

Thanks, guys.

I have a cross-wind that (in my mind) is over feeding the combustion, so have been using firebricks as a makeshift windblock. I need to come up with something easier to manipulate when cooking pies. Even a wrought-iron door like FB is selling would work...as long as I get me some mitts!

I'll go with a rope-sealed, insulated interior door for bread baking only. I did put a lip for sealing in the doorway. Then I'll make me a mahogany/wrought iron door for cold storage conditions that will match my other architecture.

So, three doors....when will I ever get to painting that back room????

Scott

[Jed]

Re: Door Concept Question

Hi Scott,

This is the door I built for my oven. It is a metal skin (tin and copper), insulated door (perlite) -(these materials tolerate heat and they keep the heat in the oven).

You can adjust this door to function as a wind block, or to seal off the oven for baking. I didn't put a rope seal on the door to masonry connection, so there is some leakage around the door.

I am satisfied with the way this door works. The oven will still be around 200 F on the second day after firing, and I didn't do a 'great' job of insulating the dome.

JED

[staestc]

Re: Door Concept Question

I would think that if you are having wind problems, you are most likely talking about fire in the oven cooking. It would seem that a non-insulated door with some kind of adjustable venting might work great for that, then have a separate insulated door for retained heat cooking.

I have not actually come across a vented door on the forum, but I am sure somebody must have done one.

Travis

[RTflorida]

Re: Door Concept Question

CJ (Canukjim) uses a draft door. He is one of our senior builders and posters. I know he has posted pictures of his door, may take a bit of searching to find them.

RT

[Purple Grin]

Re: Door Concept Question

Thanks, Gang.

Here's what I did. The fancy storage door to match the cave door, with a stainless handle to match the BBQ.

For the baking door, I used four plies of Durarock cement board, laminated using tile thinset. Then bolted a cheap handle through. No seal, but very little noticeable heat loss.

I'm still using bricks during pizza time....I'll work on that one. Some sort of a spring loaded deal would be cool, so I could "one hand" it with a peel in my other hand.

Scott